I HAVE written about peat-cutting, drying, stacking and burning for different jobs, but last week I learned of a method of stacking peats that I had never heard of before.

When in farm work I well remember each year building a peat stack as big as a house and "slating" it with peats to keep the rain out. But I was really interested to learn that some people, probably before my time, arranged peats in such a fashion as to provide a shelter for pigs or poultry.

It seems the method was to form a rough frame using timber from farm hedges and tress and then to stack the peats around and over the frame leaving an opening in the front. This would give a warm, dry and snug shelter for the pigs or poultry which some people would thatch using reeds or perhaps ling (heather). These peats would be the last to be used so that when they were finished, the warmer weather would mean less shelter was required.

The other week I talked about less straw coming into the livestock areas because the very wet weather made harvesting so difficult if not almost impossible. But the few dry days last week allowed a surge of activity and, when journeying to Yorkshire last week, we met quite a few loads of straw heading this way. Because of the conditions, none of the straw we saw had that lovely golden colour that we like to see, but hopefully it would be dry.

Yesterday, just to prove me wrong, two wagons and trailers - one unit loaded with small bales and the other with large bales - passed on their way through Kendal. The straw was not golden but at least it was a good shade of yellow.

I never had any experience with a combine harvester; it was all done using a binder when I was involved. The sheaves of corn had to be set up in attocks (stooks) to dry, and then carted to be put into stacks or stored in the barn.

All this was hot and thirsty work and I remember a farmer in our parish who said he always gave his workers stout to drink as he believed it to be most refreshing. Everyone knew that his stout was a bucket of cold water with a handful of oatmeal stirred in. When you are gagging you'll nearly drink anything, but I doubt if his chaps really fancied it.

Time was when Scottish hill shepherds used to carry a hoggin slung over their shoulders. This was a small barrel. The shepherd would fill the hoggin from a mountain stream and add some oatmeal. Because the hoggin would be continuously shaken and churned as he walked along with it on his shoulder it produced a cold broth which they considered to be very sustaining.

Do you suppose the farmer I mentioned knew about the ways of the old Scottish shepherds? We'll never know, but I bet the mountain streams had something the tap water didn't have.

Mention of the word churning jogged my memory about the days when farmers had several workers living in and the usual day for making butter was Thursday. It was also usual, although not very popular, for the one who was last downstairs to have to turn the churn handle until the cream turned into butter. There was often quite a scutter with lads trying to pass one another on the stairs so they would not be last.

I remember a farmer's wife being asked how she would describe fresh farm butter. She simply said "Grand as owt". That said it all.

In the same vein as "last down" I was once told about a countrywoman who had five sons, and they were not very good at getting up to go to school. She would have to shout "breakfast" several times but if the good lady was particularly annoyed, when none of them appeared, she would sometimes shout "last one down carries the chamber pot". There wouldn't half be some movement then and when they landed down she would say: "I'm glad someat'll shift you lot."

Dialect word: Maint meaning why not.

Thought for the day: How about this for a sign in all public and government buildings? "If it aint broke, don't fix it."